I Was A Soldier
by W3ND1GO
Summary: A former Rubinelle cadet, turned former Raider who goes by "Stormdog" is captured by Brenner's Wolves. Now running with the 12th Battalion, he fights near to death to keep himself and his friends alive.
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was an average morning.

As average as a morning running with a group of raiders in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The meteors hit… eh, a while ago. Don't remember how long it was. Haven't seen the sun in a while. Haven't really been counting the days either.

I was "rescued" by a group of raiders led by a former soldier who now is only known as "The Beast." They said join us or we'll kill you, well, what would anyone have done.

The first few, I guess you could call them "weeks" (no way of telling anymore) were a bit rough. I had to yell at innocent civilians, take everything from them then either kill them there or leave them for dead. Needless to say, I didn't like it.

I got a bit more used to it though. Never fully adjusted to the idea of cold-blooded murder. However, it was my only chance at survival. If I showed any sign of weakness or disobeyed the Beast, I would be killed for sure. If I managed to get away, then it'd be a few hours before I was crawling back. If I had the resolve to not go back to them, then I'd be spending my time with corpses until I inevitably starved to death.

So, it was the Raiders or nothing.'

Eventually, I took up the name Stormdog. It was storming when they found me. "Dog" was a common name that the Beast used when shouting orders. I picked up the name shortly after.

This particular morning, (I was guessing it was morning anyway) we were tasked with raiding a local village of civilians trying to live in peace. There was no such thing as peace anymore. We could live like kings, just had to take what we wanted. I was a simple guy, though, all I wanted was what I needed. We had raided this village many times before.

As we advanced on the ruins, something was different. The air smelled of diesel fuel, the kind that tanks used. There weren't any of the civs wandering about. That's when we spotted them.

The Rubinelle Army.

Fuckin' hell, I thought the meteors tore the Rubes apart.

Guess I was wrong. But, whatever, how much trouble could a ragtag remnant of a battalion of Rubes be?

The Beast shouted to us over radio. "Take what you want, roaches, kill em' all!" Then, it was up to our unit commanders to take control of us dogs.

Our sergeant marched us right in. We ran through artillery fire until we saw the first infantry, raised our weapons and shot.

I couldn't confirm any kills but we made our way through, didn't lose a guy, but that was just the beginning.

Next, we hit a recon unit, lost 4 guys. We had 6 left. We ran into enemy tanks, a shell hit the ground in the middle of our unit, and took our sergeant and heavy gunner. Fuck, this was going to hell, and fast.

Thoughts of death crossed my mind. I didn't want to die, but it seemed like paradise compared to this battle. The tank got hit by one of our artillery units, but that wasn't the end of it. We got hit by more artillery ourselves, I saw the last three guys go. Jammer, Tick, Killcage. They screamed as the shells hit. I saw one come straight for me.

I turned and tried to run. I got about 8 feet, then I heard a sharp crack, followed by a blast.

Then I was flying.

Then I wasn't.

I hit the ground, face-first, and that was all I remember.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As far as I could tell, I was waking up. It was dark at first, then as my mind returned to normal, things lit up. My eyes were hard to open, nearly sealed with blood and grime and dirt. I eventually force them open, blink a few times, and then look beside me.

There was someone there.

First analysis was always necessary when dealing with enemies outside of combat. I learned that… not important. She was an officer. She wasn't dressed like normal infantry and when she stood, she walked with a stance that only someone with authority would walk with. But she wasn't a captain, definitely not. She lacked confidence. What she had was arrogance, something totally different. My guess was, she was a lieutenant. She looked like she wouldn't have bothered with me if she wasn't ordered to.

When she opened her mouth, I knew this was going to be interesting.

"What's your name?" she asked, with an attitude, as I expected.

"Name. Stormdog. That's what I am to you."

"Your real name," she leaned closer, and the look of disgust on her face increased. "I'm not in a mood to screw around."

"That's the only name that matters," I said. "Besides, I feel you don't want to spend this time discussing the details of my name."

"You'd be right about that," she backed off slightly. "Who is your commander?"

"The Beast," I replied.

"Why did you join the Raiders?"

"Same as most of the guys," I answered, looking up at the ceiling from my cot, and picking at the bandages on my arm. "Threatened into it. It's survival, lady."

"My name is Lieutenant Lin," she had a threatening tone. "That is how you will address me."

"Fine, _Lieutenant Lin_," I said, with as much attitude as I could muster.

At that moment a larger figure appeared at the door to the medical tent where I was lying. This was the captain. A muscular figure with crew-cut blonde hair and a dark red uniform. The insignia on his shoulder read "12th Battalion, Brenner's Wolves".

"Lin, give the boy some space," he spoke, commanding. This was confidence. Not the sloppy attempt at confidence the lieutenant exhibited.

"With all due respect, sir, we should spare this one no mercy. I don't believe he should have been given medical treatment," she replied. I stayed quiet.

"And do what? Let him rot?" he asserted, with more caring than I would have expected.

"Of course, sir. He doesn't deserve your kindness. He's killed our soldiers, sir."

"We don't know that, Lin," for some reason, the captain, Brenner, I suppose, was expressing some form of care for my existence. Strange. He turned his attention to me. "What's your name?"

"Stormdog," I replied briefly.

"Stormdog, how many of our soldiers did you kill?"

"I didn't confirm any kills."

He shot a glance at Lin. He then immediately returned his gaze to my blue eyes. "Hm. What's your rank?"

"Roach. We're all the same rank in the eyes of the Beast," I said. It was true. We had units, sergeants, then the Beast. That was it.

"Would you like to join our ranks? Another soldier is always good."

I was startled. I was expecting harsh punishment. When you did something wrong in the Raiders, you were beaten. Half to death. I had to take the chance. This would be my chance to be with at least a somewhat respectable group. "Y-y-," the words had a hard time coming out. "Yes… sir."

"Sir," Lin interjected. "I can't condone this, what if he turns on our soldiers and kills us all?"

"Lin," Brenner said. "One man can't take us all down." His voice then turned into a whisper. "I have a feeling this one will be okay."

Lin wearily resigned, and became quiet for the first time. Thank God.

"From now on, you'll be called Private Stormdog. Is that okay?"

"Of course," I said. He didn't make me give up my real name. Kind of him.

"We'll let you rest now. You can begin active duty when your wounds heal," he said.

Lin turned and left the tent. I could tell she was disgusted just being around me. I didn't mind, I didn't care for her much either.

As Brenner's words sunk in, I was confused. I was sure they would make me go through basic before serving.

"Sir," I said. "Aren't you going to put me through basic training first?"

"Private," he said. "You've been through basic."

"Sir?" I replied.

"You're a Rubinelle cadet."


End file.
